Wheelchair Club

Wheelchair Curling

The sport of Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of the game of curling for people who have a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling can be played by people with a wide range of disabilities. All that is needed is the co-ordination to hold a delivery stick and strength to push it with a stone attached to the other end, and a tolerance for cold. It is not an aerobic activity.

Wheelchair curling is played with the same 20kg granite stones and on the same ice as regular curling, though the stones are thrown from a stationary wheelchair and there is no sweeping.

It is a relatively new discipline (1990’s) within a sport that has been played in Scotland since 1500’s.

Each player delivers or pushes their stones, in turn, down a sheet of ice towards a circular target in the ice with the purpose of ending up closer to the centre than those thrown by your opponent. Unlike regular curling, there is no sweeping but wheelchair curling is an integrated sport and wheelchair curlers can and do play with mainstream clubs.

The great thing about wheelchair curling is that just about anyone with access to a wheelchair can play. Age is not a barrier, with players aged from 8 to 80 enjoying the game. Teams of four are made up of male and female players. Take someone with you when you go out on the ice. You will probably need someone to hold your chair steady when you throw your stones.

No special equipment is required to get started. You can use a regular wheelchair, though need to make sure wheels are clean before going on the ice. Clubs will have delivery sticks or cues, so you just need warm clothes.

There are 22 curling rinks in Scotland and they all have access for wheelchair curling with ramps onto the ice. The Royal Caledonian Curling Club promotes the TryCurling initiative (www.trycurling.com) as a national scheme to introduce people to the sport.

When you start, the coach will take the time to introduce the game to you slowly and let you learn to throw the stones and practice before starting to play games.

Curling is played at every level of ability. Fun leagues have complete beginners and people there for the social side of the game. That's a great place to learn how to curl. As you improve there will be other leagues that will test your skills. You don't need other wheelchair users to play with, but if you start playing, others will follow.